Your Small but Mighty MM Romance group on Facebook recently celebrated its first anniversary and hit the 2000 member number. How does that make you feel?

To have over 2000 members in SBM is still a little surreal for me. I honestly thought it would eventually reach maybe 200 members in a few months after it being launched, so this amount of love for smaller authors has exceeded any wish I had! It’s a fabulous place to spend time in, a real community, and I am so very proud of the group, its like my 3rd child!

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What prompted you to start a group?

I set up the group initially because I wanted to create a reader led space for smaller authors to be seen – to find their spotlight. There are several groups on Facebook where readers of MM romance can recommend authors they read and request for recommendations from other group members; and these are fabulous, but I noticed that the same authors were always being mentioned. This is, of course, amazing for them and a testimony to all of them for releasing material so well loved, but I knew that there were a lot of smaller, newer authors who are creating and releasing tremendously talented words yet not being seen. Two of my best friends are indie authors and I wanted to gain them, and other authors who I have come to know and form strong friendships with, their readers and help them find their spotlight.

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What is the best thing about running a FB group?

honestly? I love every aspect. The devising my daily question (which vary from the sublime to the ridiculous), the thrill of accepting new members, the messages I get thanking me for the group from the authors, the reader reviews that get posted, the way the community pulls together when a member needs them, the author enthusiasm when I ask them to do an event and the responses from the readers when they go live, the support I see everyone give when a person posts a question or I post about a new author release. And most of all, the unexpected, strong lifelong friendships I have made.

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What is the worst thing?

 it’s hard to pinpoint anything, as I said I love all aspects, even those that are quite time consuming. I guess the only thing that is not a nice thing to deal with is those who gain membership and then take advantage, such as those who are in the groups purely to find and upload work to piracy sites, or those who are rude and unkind in post responses; I shut those down as soon as I become aware of them but it is disheartening

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Why do you like MM romance?

I love MM for a lot of reasons, it has more angst led novels for one! It has less of the stereotypical whiny, bitchy female lead characters which I really am not a fan of, although I cannot help but love to hate a horrid, unaccepting side character! I am passionate about equality, and reading LGBT romance fuels this. And I find, most importantly for me, that the authors who write MM are producing the best love stories I have ever read

 

How do you come up with all the questions of the day?

ha! I get asked this all of the time 😊 some come to me when I least expect them, some are born of conversations I hear in daily conversations while standing in queues while out shopping, or in a café, or conversations with my two daughters, for example . Some are taken from topics that mean a lot to me and others are recycled from sites specifically created to boost interaction in a social medica group. That is the aim of them ultimately, for me to create discussion, a sense of community and if we can smile while we do this, even better!

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What are your hopes for the group?

I hope that the authors in the group find their spotlight and are recognised as they should be - I admire and have so much gratitude for writers who create work and then through it out to our waiting kindles and bookshelves, opening themselves up to criticism of their craft. I hope people love being part of SBM and stay, inviting all of their like-minded friends who will also enjoy being part of it and interact in the community. And I hope that every one of the group, as we are all readers, continues to find authors they love and therefore tell others about them – to complete the circle and revolve back to my first hope.

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What is your perfect Sunday morning?

as cliché as it sounds for this, a lazy one! Where my family and I are all together, enjoying a lot of downtime – then quiet time reading sat with my youngest, it’s our ritual – before cooking a Sunday roast and enjoying a glass of wine in the evening while catching up with friends

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What was your favourite book as a child?

I adored C S Lewis, I read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe so many times LOL  - and I ate up anything by Roald Dahl as a young child. As a teen I loved the magical world of terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman and Gabriel Garcia Marquez – I still read them now

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When you’re not helping writers, what do you do to relax?

if I have periods of time to relax I adore to travel whether that be a day trip or a holiday or to visit friends, on a day off of work I spend time catching up with my friends and family, reading, spending time with my daughters, walking my dog, cooking – and of course reading. I’m quite boring really LOL. I’m a nurse so my down time is spent time doing things that restore my mind and soul.

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If you’re not already a member, head over to https://www.facebook.com/groups/605057917169258